Croatia v Spain Betting Preview – Euro 2016, 21st June
Spain looked absolutely brilliant as they destroyed Turkey in their second group match of Euro 2016. The reigning Champions posted a 3-0 win over Turkey and just need a point in their final game to ensure that they finish in top spot over Croatia. The crowd troubles marred Croatia’s game against the Czech Republic and it may have done even bigger damage to the side who threw away a two goal lead in a 2-2 draw in the game. Can they pick themselves up from all of that and beat Spain to win Group D?
There are big first goalscorer bonuses to be earned at Euro 2016 through online betting site Betfred. Place a pre-match wager on a first goalscorer selection in a game and if that player opens the scoring and then goes on to score a second goal in the game you will get paid out at double your original odds. If he scores a hattrick that’s treble original odds! Register an account with Betfred and earn up a £30 free bet as a welcome bonus.
Croatia v Spain Betting Tips
We have seen the good and the bad about Croatia so far on the pitch at Euro 2016. They were brilliant in their opening win over Turkey and for the large part against the Czech Republic in their second game they were fluent and in control. Technically they are one of the better sides at the tournament, but then they started to fall apart in the second half of the game against the Czechs. It really started with the loss of Luka Modric, who will be missing from their final group game, because when he went off with his injury, Croatia started to let all of their control in the game slip. Then there was the crowd trouble from a section of their supports and in the end, they conceded a late penalty which was converted by the Czech’s to earn them a 2-2 draw. Croatia should still be comfortable at the end of the day in getting through to the next round and if they can hang in for a point against the Spaniards then they would secure second spot.
The loss of Luka Modric will be a huge blow for them in this one because he makes everything tick in the middle of the park for them. They have Mario Mandzukic up front who is trading at a qoute of 5/2 in the anytime goalscorer market. How many chances is he, or Croatia as a collective, likely to get in this one though? The big concern for Croatia is not having Modric and the fact that they started producing more and more basic errors the longer the game went on against the Czechs. They can’t afford to run out of steam against Spain. Spain were simply brilliant in their second match, laying down a technical masterclass to the rest of the entire contingent of teams at Euro 2016. Andres Iniesta was at the heart of everything that Spain did and following their 3-0 win over Turkey were moved to 7/2 outright favourites to win the tournament.
Alvaro Morata’s brace for Spain against Turkey will have eased concerns about them lacking a number nine. That was just the input that they needed from a striker to become pretty much the total package. If he continues that form, Spain will only be stronger for it. Morata is a 7/4 anytime goalscorer option with Artiz Aduriz at the same price at the head of the market. Spain are unbeaten in 14 European Championship matches now (W11 D3) and they haven’t conceded in 690 minutes of football in the tournament now. The last goal they conceded was in their opener against Italy at Euro 2012. Spain were dominant on a different level against Turkey and when you have your centre half popping up on the right wing, that’s pretty assured. Under 2/5 goals is a punter of 4/7 on this one while Spain to win to nil can be backed at a quote of 11/5 which will probably have punters scrambling to take advantage of that.
Croatia v Spain Betting Odds
Spain 5/4, Draw 2/1, Croatia 3/1
Croatia v Spain Predictions
Spain showed that they can break down teams who have a defensive set up as they totally destroyed Turkey. It was so easy for Spain in that one that it should have really upped their confidence in pushing forward for their third title in a row. With Croatia missing Modric, a great chance for Spain to land another clean sheet victory.
